Uarda : a Romance of Ancient Egypt — Volume 09 eBook

When the king, before whom were carried the images
of the divine Triad of Thebes, of Menth, the God of
War and of Necheb, the Goddess of Victory, reviewed
the ranks, he was borne in a litter on the shoulders
of twenty-four noble youths; at his approach the
whole host fell on their knees, and did not rise till
Rameses, descending from his position, had, in the
presence of them all, burned incense, and made a libation
to the Gods, and his son Chamus had delivered to him,
in the name of the Immortals, the symbols of life
and power. Finally, the priests sang a choral
hymn to the Sun-god Ra, and to his son and vicar on
earth, the king.

Just as the troops were put in motion, the paling
stars appeared in the sky, which had hitherto been
covered with thick clouds; and this occurrence was
regarded as a favorable omen, the priests declaring
to the army that, as the coming Ra had dispersed the
clouds, so the Pharaoh would scatter his enemies.

With no sound of trumpet or drum, so as not to arouse
the enemy, the foot-soldiers went forward in close
order, the chariot-warriors, each in his light two-wheeled
chariot drawn by two horses, formed their ranks, and
the king placed himself at their head. On each
side of the gilt chariot in which he stood, a case
was fixed, glittering with precious stones, in which
were his bows and arrows. His noble horses were
richly caparisoned; purple housings, embroidered with
turquoise beads, covered their backs and necks, and
a crown-shaped ornament was fixed on their heads,
from which fluttered a bunch of white ostrich-feathers.
At the end of the ebony pole of the chariot, were
two small padded yokes, which rested on the necks
of the horses, who pranced in front as if playing
with the light vehicle, pawed the earth with their
small hoofs, and tossed and curved their slender necks.

The king wore a shirt of mail,

[The remains of a shirt of mail, dating
from the time of Scheschenk I. (Sesonchis), who
belonged to the 22d dynasty, is in the British Museum.
It is made of leather, on which bronze scales are
fastened.]

over which lay the broad purple girdle of his apron,
and on his head was the crown of Upper and Lower Egypt;
behind him stood Mena, who, with his left hand, tightly
held the reins, and with his right the shield which
was to protect his sovereign in the fight.

The king stood like a storm-proof oak, and Mena by
his side like a sapling ash.

The eastern horizon was rosy with the approaching
sun-rise when they quitted the precincts of the camp;
at this moment the pioneer Paaker advanced to meet
the king, threw himself on the ground before him, kissed
the earth, and, in answer to the king’s question
as to why he had come without his brother, told him
that Horus was taken suddenly ill. The shades
of dawn concealed from the king the guilty color, which
changed to sallow paleness, on the face of the pioneer—­unaccustomed
hitherto to lying and treason.